Saturday, 19 July 2008

Not on the bookshelves anymore...

If you want to buy a book these days then you’re not just limited to what’s on the shelves at your local bookstore. Shopping online is where it’s at right now with any number of internet stores that will find whatever you’re after. I’ve never shopped there but apparently the Book Depository is supposed to be pretty good and I’ll always be grateful to Abe Books for having a cheap copy of Robert McCammon’s ‘They Thirst’ in stock (seriously hard to find over here in the UK, at least where I was looking anyway…)

All in all we’re looking at a time where we’ll never be without that book we really want, good isn’t it?I don’t know about you though but despite how easy it is to buy books I still find it a little bit sad to go into a bookshop and find that my old favourites are no longer on the shelves. There are loads of sound business reasons for this, I’m sure, and you can still buy them online but I think it’s a real shame to see the actual books themselves drop off the radar, especially when trends these days could easily fit in some of the old series…

The series that’s on my mind, regarding this post, is Michael Scott Rohan’s ‘Winter of the World’ series. It’s been a while since I last read it but I’ve still got the impressions of complex worldbuilding and plots that could go anywhere with a cast of Gods who were just as human as their subjects. Couple all that with a real gritty and vicious attitude towards the characters and you’ve got a series that I reckon would appeal to anyone who’s into Brian Ruckley’s work or Erikson’s ‘Malazan’ series. Don’t go looking for it, during your lunch break, though as you won’t find it in your high street book store…Like I said, it’s a shame but I guess priority has to go to all the new books that are being published and that’s not exactly a bad thing either :o)

How about you? Are there any books/series that you miss when you can’t see them on the shelves? Is this purely a nostalgic thing or do you think that genre fans are missing out by this stuff not being so readily accessible? Do you even go into book shops anymore? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think…

3 comments:

In my country I can't find anything on the shelves...I order everything online. Nowadays I love abebooks for old books. I just bought several by John Norman's Gor series (Star and DAW) and I have more than two dozen Brian Stableford's books as well. They would be impossible to find even in the stores.The only store I go it's FNAC. It has some english books but it's very limited. No more than two hundred books. Oh well... Long live amazon and abebooks. :)

You speak of They Thirst by McCammon. I have to find that book... I have read Swan Song and it's was great.

I live in Germany and it's getting difficult incase you read english books. Sometime ago I wanted to by Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley. It was not availabe but at the same time they offered the german edition Winterwende.Therefore I buy german books at my local bookstore and buy english books online. There is also a price difference. Most of the time you get english books online cheaper than in bookstore - in case it's available.

most bookstores in south africa stock alot of fantasy and science fiction books. If bookstores do not haveit, they always happy to order a book for you. I think its only country specific authors who are not really international, which is a bit harder to get, and then online stores are excellent sources. Besides that, I prefer to visit bookstores and support the small stores. If you don't they will not be around